Francis (Frank) Casey

Rank:	Private
Street:
Townland:	Ballagh
Town/Village:	Newtownforbes
Civil Parish:	Clongesh
Catholic Parish:	Clonguish
Country:
Alternative Address:	Ballagh, Newtownforbes
Census 1901:	Residing at Ballagh, Newtownforbes www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Longford/Newtownforbes/Ballagh/1553055/
Census 1911:
Regiment/Unit:	Royal Dublin Fusiliers, 8th Battalion, "C" Company
Regiment Number:	8/14534
Date of Death:	01-04-1916
Cause:	Killed in action, Hulluch, France
Memorial:	Bois Carre Military Cemetery, Haisnes, France
Information:	Frank was born Jun 1874* near in Ballagh, outside Newtownforbes. Pte Casey arrived at the front before Christmas 1915. He was killed in action when the "A" and "C" companies of the 8th Royal Dublin Fusiliers were mining shafts with the Royal Engineers, in an area called Hay Alley near the village of Hulluch. The troops suffered a hit by the German artillery which released C.O. gas; Casey was one of seventeen fatalities from this action**. His brothers Patrick and Peter, and his sisters Kate Casey and Mrs. Anne McLachlan, were listed as his next-of-kin.
Parents Names:	Son of Michael Casey and Catherine (née Hay), Ballagh, Newtownforbes.
Notes:	A baptismal record exists for 28 June 1874 in Clonguish, although the 1901 census suggests a birth year or c.1876. *At the end of April, the 8th RDF were hit devastated by two severe gassings at Hulluch, on the 27-29 April. A very sad thing to note is that while many of the men from the Royal Dublin Fusiliers who died in April 1916, including Pte Casey, were buried in the graveyard, their actual graves were unknown.
Links:	Link to CWGC entry; Link to blog on the 8th RDF at Hulluch, April 1916;